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Employment & Work Stories

Here's another one of those quasi-feel-good articles that deals with how librarians are reinventing themselves. It gives all of us a pat on the back for a job well done. Although it focuses on the demands for, and benefits of, special librarianship, the impact that technology has had on the profession, as a whole, is pretty universal.

"Gone are the days of the Dewey decimal system, linoleum floors and musty volumes. Now, being a librarian takes Internet savvy, organization, keen business sense and a touch of a detective's skills.

'How librarians fare depends on how they define themselves,' said Bonnie Hohhof, editor of Competitive Intelligence Magazine. The future is in electronic information tailored to an individual's or business's needs, she said. Librarians need to work on a "higher level."Read More.

Even with two masterâ€™s degrees, some library experience and impeccable references I cannot get a call back. Well, that is not entirely accurate. I did get one interview thus far and sat there smiling and being the ideal interviewee while I was told I was â€œoverqualifiedâ€? and my reasoning for taking a â€œreference assistantâ€? position questioned. The answer to that question by the way is money, money, and money.

I have searched lisjobs.com so many times that I have screen burn from the site. I have tried using and abusing friends and family and contacts who are friends of the family and people who pass by on the street carrying library books weeping to them â€œPleaseâ€¦ Iâ€™m hungry and can catalogue, for the love of god take me to your readerâ€™s services, put a ring on my finger and sandals on my feet!â€? The prodigal librarian is ready to crawl for forgiveness of his sins. The sin of being over-educated, young, and not as experienced and in some cases I think, being a male.

You Think You Have It Tough writes "News Out Of Florida where a convicted felon serving a life sentence is accused of attacking a prison librarian at Tomoka Correctional Institution, slicing his head and face with a razor, officials and family members said.

Police say Howard Dozier Jr., who has already served 20 years of a life sentence for armed burglary, pounced on the librarian at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Samy Ghaly was left slashed "from the top of his head to his throat," said his son, Ramy Ghaly, 16."

An Anonymous Patron writes "News From OZ where CPSU members at the State Library of Victoria walked off the job this morning, following the issuing of termination letters to eight Vicnet staff today.

The eight, who were all given four weeks notice, were mostly semi-technical staff, a spokesperson from the Central Public Sector Union said.

Some time back, it became known that of the 64 full-time, part-time and project staff at Vicnet, around half were set to lose their jobs by June 30, following an alleged cut in funding to the organisation by Multimedia Victoria."

"The state's library system, which last year reduced hours and canceled bookmobile service because of budget cuts, is still treading water.

With 108 vacancies â€” nearly 20 percent of its staff â€” Jo Ann Schindler, the state librarian, has no immediate plans to restore hours at all of the state's 50 public libraries, although she is working with labor unions to bring back hours at some branches."

This story from the Rockford (IL) Register Star tells about library workers from Library Union Local 3350 (Rockford Public Library) who will hold an informational picket before heading to a Board meeting to complain about negotiations being stalled. In addition to salary, other issues on the table are contributions to health-insurance costs, cashing in of vacation time and the outsourcing of custodial work. The Board says that their final offer is on the table.

Union workers at the Cleveland Public Library have agreed to submit their contract differences to binding arbitration, thus avoiding a strike that could have started Tuesday.

"We've been negotiating since December, and we felt we achieved what we could at the table," said Ryan Moore, who is on the negotiating team for the Service Employees International Union District 1199.

The message came from Patricia Lowrey, the library's new head of technical services, whose plans for outsourcing loom large in the contract dispute. Lowrey said the e-mail was her only recruitment move so far and would mainly fill her department, but applicants would be forwarded to other departments as appropriate."